To Get
by half-breedMiralian
Summary: It was the prospect of having a challenge that distracted him. Kept his mind off the nightmare he was living. He just wished his challenge would get it. Ray/Ian. Okay, people, this is officially a SLASH. No complaints.
1. Get It

**Author's Note:** I'm practically obsessed with this series. Been hooked on it since it first premiered. Regarding this fiction, I'm unsure as to whether I want to make it a pre-slash. However, let me tell you all that I first and foremost wholeheartedly support the Suki/Ray pairing. Forever. Ray/Ian is just an afterthought, a what-if. Unimportant, really. I will do Suki/Ray in the future.

**Get It**

Ray Snider was the first person Ian Archer hated at Tower Prep. The pale boy felt sort of proud that he had been the new kid's first rival. From the moment he laid eyes on the strong-looking boy, he knew he'd have a good opponent. He'd never found the other students a challenge, aside from Cal Rice, but then again, he thought, Cal Rice was _too much_ of a challenge. He decided to stay out of the Buffer player's way.

"Dude," Don said late one night. "You're getting obsessed with the guy. I swear, you talk about him nearly twenty-four-seven."

Ray glared at him, glad that the freak, Fenton, wasn't in the room. It just wouldn't do to have an outsider learn about his thoughts. "Shut up," he sneered. "I need some competition in this school." Zack opened his mouth to speak, but Ray interrupted. "No, not Rice. He's…a little too extreme for my tastes."

All three knew that this meant that while Ray could hold his own against Rice, he wouldn't walk away from that fight without major injuries. "But Archer…he's good."

"Think he considers you in the same context?" Don mused, tossing a tennis ball at the wall and catching it on the rebound. "That he likes having you to fight? To challenge himself?"

Ray shrugged, chewing on his pencil as he stared down the horrific quadratic formula in front of him. Screw Math and his ridiculous problems. "Dunno." He cast his two friends a leering grin. "Think I should find out?"

-.-

It was that first punch he decided to throw that seemed to lead to his own undoing. Archer dodged, as expected, but didn't return fire with one of his own and instead looked at Ray in bewilderment. "What the hell is your problem?"

Ray grinned and lunged again. This time Ian fought back.

Students stopped to watch the fight occur, some cheering Ray on, others encouraging Archer to stand his ground.

"Can you feel it?"

A roundhouse kick clipped Ray's waist but he was past the point of feeling pain right now. Exhilaration flowed through him. Ian paused at the other's words. "Feel what? Your fist? Yeah, I can, and I don't like it!"

Ray chuckled as they set off in another fierce flurry of movement, forcing many of their audience to step back. "Pain isn't what I'm asking about right now, Ian. The excitement. The need to fight."

"I didn't feel any _need_ to fight before _you_ jumped me!" Ian snarled, clearly growing confused. "Why can't you just leave me alone?"

"Ha! You're starting to sound like a little girl, Archer," Ray leered, his heart jumping when one of his opponent's blows flew by his cheek. "Don't be a wuss."

Ian practically roared as he lunged for the taunting boy. The crowd was cheering loudly, several responsible people calling for help, all the rest eager to see the outcome of the bout. "Don't you get it?" Ray shouted over the din of the students. "Don't you like it? Challenging yourself?"

Ian didn't miss a beat. If anything, his strength seemed to intensify, and his attacks grew faster. Ray began to doubt that Archer was starting to see things his way and wondered if he should stop fighting now. But he finally noticed the subtle change. Ian's form wasn't so rigid and tense with hatred now. It seemed a bit more relaxed. His eyes didn't blaze with anger; they were calculating now, even curious. Each movement, each jab he took at Ray, seemed to be considered a split second before being executed. Ray stifled his grin as he too shifted into a more casual stance and practiced a few new moves on his rival. Each was countered, and returned lightly.

They were sparring. They were challenging themselves. They were challenging each other.

The crowd still called for blood though. Ray hissed irritably at their loud comments. They just didn't get it, did they? They didn't understand.

"C'mon, Ian!" Forrest called out. "You can take that loser! Beat him down!"

Ray snapped. Not at Ian, but at the idiot who had spoken. But his rage was channeled towards the person he fought. He spun past and slammed his arm into his throat, clotheslining him and knocking him to the ground. As soon as he heard the loud _thud_, he knew that his game had been taken too far. Silence followed immediately.

"What is the meaning of this?"

He whirled and practically shrank back from Headmaster's glare. The tall man's eyebrows knitted together in outrage and he stretched out a hand to grab Ray's collar.

"S-sorry, sir," a weak voice coughed. Both looked down at Ian, who was struggling to sit up. He opened his mouth to speak, then winced and gripped it. He finally managed to rasp, "We were just practicing. It wasn't a fight. Practice." He practically wheezed and there came over his eyes such a look of pure pain that Ray felt so triumphant, yet so disgusted with himself.

Ward and Sato were immediately at his side, coaxing him gently to stop talking, while Forrest stood there sputtering incoherently, trying to voice that he _knew_ that it hadn't been a practice match, but that Ray had been lusting for Ian's blood. Ray's eyes narrowed into dangerous slits and the boy's mouth snapped shut with an audible click.

"Is this true, Miss Ward?" Headmaster asked calmly, his icy eyes observing the scene before him.

Ray saw Ian's fingers tighten around CJ's arm. The girl bit her lip and whispered, "Yes, sir." The hand released her, leaving white marks.

Headmaster made a disbelieving sound in the back of his throat, but he decided not to question her further. "Very well. Mr. Archer, Mr. Snider, I suppose I can understand the thrill of…sparring…but I ask that you pick a more convenient location to use instead of the hallways in which students must use to _get to class._" The onlookers took the message to heart and scattered faster than mice. The head of the school then cleared his throat and bid them a good day.

Ray was left to be stared down by three hostile pairs of eyes, while being regarded by a more curious pair. He sneered. "My win, Archer," he stated, spinning on his heel and leaving. "Put some effort into it next time."

Finally, Gabe let loose a flow of words and profanities that he couldn't say when Headmaster was around, but Ray turned a deaf ear to him. He had done his job. He had gotten his answer.

-.-

He couldn't help but feel glad as he settled on his bed, ready for sleep. He told Don so, which shut the boy up before he could even ask. Zack inquired, "Archer gets it then?"

"Yeah," the raven-haired boy murmured, catching the tennis ball Don threw at him. "He gets it, but I don't think he'll accept it."

"Then all is lost for you," Don chuckled poetically. He yelped when his companion whipped the ball at him. "Geez, chill! You're not the only one who can fight in this school. If it doesn't work out, just pick someone from the Buffer team."

Ray snorted. "Fat chance."

A knock on the door had them all on alert. "Who is it?" Zack called.

"Hey, is Ray there?"

Ian.

Smirking at his friends, Ray strutted to the door and opened it. His smile dropped. "Sato," he said coolly, carefully appraising the short Asian girl. "What do you want?"

"What're you playing at?" Suki hissed venomously, shoving his broad chest. He stumbled back a pace. "You have some sick fantasy of putting him through the worst days of his life? As if being _here_ isn't enough of a nightmare!"

Ray snarled at the female. "You think I don't feel the same way? You don't think we all did at some point? _I'm here too._" He quieted when a hall monitor passed by with a glare. "I…I'm here too. I just needed something to distract me." He avoided her piercing eyes. "He helped me challenge myself. If I have a challenge, then I can distract myself from something I don't want to think about. Just…just tell him that."

Suki regarded him with eyes he thought were colder than the North Pole. He shifted awkwardly and glanced back at his roommates, who appeared to be containing their laughter at him being yelled at by a _girl_. He glared at them and they simply turned their faces away.

"'I understand, Ray.'"

He whirled at the sound of Ian's voice, but didn't see him anywhere. He then realized that it was Suki who had spoken. At first he thought she was just using Ian's voice to comfort him (in which case, he thought, would be quite odd), but then the girl said in Archer's voice, "'I'm using Suki as my messenger, seeing as that last blow you gave me did a number on my throat. I'm in no condition to talk.'" Suki scowled at him as she said this.

He noticed that his friends had grown solemnly silent behind him, and when he glanced back to see if they were laughing in their pillows, he saw that they were regarding him with the utmost sincerity of sympathy.

Suki continued the message. "'I have to say thanks, though, because you've given me something to think about. Of course, I can't say I'm too thrilled about how you tried to tell me. Couldn't you have just given it to me straight? I'm getting tired of trying to figure out cryptic messages. We've been getting a lot of those recently.'"

"What does he mean by that?" Ray inquired.

Suki glared at him quickly. "None of your business," she snapped. Ray saw something flash in her brown eyes; fear? Of what? Being discovered? She…no, Ian _and_ his friends were all hiding something. Ray decided not to press the matter. He'd find out later. He motioned for her to continue.

"'That being said, I guess that with all the stress of school going on, I could use a little activity here and there to relax. So…'"

Ray leaned forward when the girl trailed off. "So what? _What?_ Don't tell me that's it! What did he say?"

Sato looked ever so reluctant to finish the message. "'So how about we meet in the gym on Friday. Eight o' clock. We can…spar a bit. To relax or distract ourselves. Whatever makes you feel…better. And we'll talk, if that's what you want.'" Suki sounded a bit awkward at the end, but Ray was pretty sure that she was repeating exactly what Ian had said; that included his embarrassed tone.

Ray smiled slightly. "So Friday, eight o' clock?" Suki nodded, her eyes having lost some of their fight. "Sounds good to me."

Suki sighed and turned to leave.

"Wait, Suki."

She glanced back. "What?"

Ray struggled to force the words out of his mouth. "Tell…tell him I'm sorry. I'll…make it up to him somehow?" His sentence came out as a question, as though he were asking Suki if that sounded about right.

Sato's expression softened and she nodded. "Yeah. I'll do that."

Ray closed the door and turned to his to friends. "Well?"

Zack now grinned slyly. "Dunno, man. Sounds to me like you've got yourself a date."

Ray jumped on him and they wrestled for a few minutes while Don sat on his bed, laughing. The outcome was obvious: Ray had Zack pinned beneath him, grinning. "Alright, get off!" Zack shoved the raven-haired boy away and sat up. "But seriously, if you end up dating him, you'd better not come to us ranting about how dreamy his eyes are, or how perfect his hair is."

Don snorted. "I'll tell you, he'll probably go crazy."

Ray chuckled. "I'll forgive everything you just said. First off, we're doing this so that we can distract ourselves. You're welcome to join us. I'm sure we can take on you two."

"Pass. I'd prefer _not_ to die."

Ray shrugged and glanced out the window. His eyes narrowed sharply at what he saw. Four figures were crossing the lawn, dodging the security system's lasers. Once they had all crossed safely, one of them turned to see if they had been spotted. Ray caught the person's eyes.

Ian.

The boy's eyes widened somewhat pleadingly as though begging Ray to keep quiet. Ray, almost too stunned to realize what he was seeing, nodded slightly. Ian breathed out and the smallest of smiles flitted across his face. He tilted his head and Ray could read the message written in his eyes.

_One day, I'll tell you._

Then the boy and his three companions – Ray didn't have to guess who they were – disappeared into the night's shadows.

"What's out there?" Zack asked, coming to look. All he saw was the forest and darkness.

"I don't know," Ray murmured. "But one day, he'll tell me."

"Huh?"

Ray laughed a bit. "Nothing. I'm just glad he gets it. But…" He stole another glance at the darkness. "One day, maybe I'll get it too."


	2. Get This

**Get This**

He _hated_ Cal Rice. Ray believed that if Rice were to disappear, he'd be the happiest kid at Tower Prep. But why did he hate Cal Rice exactly? Because he seemed to be stealing away Ian's attention.

Ray hated how Ian would come into their little sparring matches (which, after a month, had frequented to three times a week: Mondays, Wednesdays, and Saturdays), fuming and distracted. Ian's fighting ability would be compromised by his angry emotions at how Cal had picked a fight with him again that day, or how he would treat him like trash as he cleaned up the Buffer team locker room. Ian's moves would become wild and erratic, as though he wasn't practicing anymore, but fighting Cal Rice himself.

This made Ray worried for his mutual companion, fearful that he might get hurt, yet furious at Rice.

One day, Ian came in, jaw tight. Ray could see the muscles in his neck flex with restrained anger as he dumped his backpack on a bench and quickly settled into a fighting stance. "Let's go."

Ray jumped up and down in place a bit. "Don't you want to warm up first?"

"You think I can't fight if I don't warm up?" Ian demanded, taking a menacing step forward. Before Ray could voice his denial, Ian threw a punch.

Ray suddenly found himself fighting to keep his head from being knocked off. Ian had an angry light in his eyes; he looked blood-thirsty, frustrated, _distracted._ Ray gritted his teeth as he spun past his sparring partner. Cal wasn't supposed to be occupying Archer's mind; Ray was.

Ray now found himself being distracted by thoughts of Ian being distracted by someone else, and that is why he missed the fist as it swung into his face. He fell to the floor and skidded back a few feet, blinking, stunned, and hurt.

Ian's scowl of frustration finally turned to a look of utter horror. "Crap! Snider, I'm sorry! I wasn't thinking straight. I forgot…" He reached out a hand to help the dark-haired boy up, but it was promptly smacked away.

"I know," Ray said quietly, standing. "I know you forgot. You're thinking about Rice now. Not what's happening here." He swirled his tongue around his lips and grimaced at the iron taste of blood.

"Ray…" Now the other looked so apologetic that Ray almost gave into the urge to forgive him for not paying attention to him. But he didn't.

"Forget it, Archer. Forget this." Ray wiped a hand across his mouth in an attempt to get rid of most of the red. "I think Rice is a better challenge for you now. I can find another sparring partner. It's fine."

Ian stood there, mouth parted slightly. Ray, in all his bitterness, didn't even sneer at the boy. He sighed, packed up his things, and left.

-.-

"Stop it!" Don hissed over his tray. "Are you _trying_ to pick a fight with him this early in the morning?"

Ray wasn't even listening to the boy. He was too busy glaring at Cal Rice, who had finally noticed him and scowled back in confusion.

"Don's right," Zack agreed, nudging his friend. "I understand that you're angry at him, but he doesn't even know what he's done. Stop before you start something."

"Oh, but I do want to start something." He wanted Cal Rice's blood for taking away the attention of the one person in Tower Prep who could distract him from the nightmare he was living in.

It was the pure venom in Ray's tone that made his friends flinch back as he rose. Rice approached with strong strides, clutching a carton of juice. He jerked his head. "What do you want, Snider?"

"Just wondering how a pathetic excuse of a man like you could possibly stand your ground against Archer."

At the mention of the boy's name, Rice's nostrils flared angrily. "What'd you say?"

"I'm saying you're probably just a fluke. Not a real challenge."

-.-

When Ian Archer and his friends walked into the cafeteria, it was like they walked into a cage match. Students were screaming wildly as if the fight of the century was going down right now. Ian looked through the ring of students and saw with horror that it indeed seemed like the fight of the century.

There was Ray facing off against Cal, both already bleeding. Their eyes were ablaze with hatred and determination. Then they launched at each other and the blows began. Each hit and kick was matched by each side equally. Some missed. Others found their mark. When they sprang apart again, their chests were heaving, fists still clenched. They tensed, making ready to spring again.

"What the hell are you two doing?" Ian shouted over the din of the crowd. Both boys turned to look at him and Ian saw something change in their eyes. As though guilt suddenly entered their conscious, they backed out of their stances quickly, mouths still twisted into scowls.

"Ray?" Ian asked as the people quieted. "Cal?"

Cal sneered at him. "I don't have to explain anything. He started it." He shoved his way through the crowd and past Ian, jostling him roughly as he went.

Ray, on the other hand, stood there, head raised defiantly. Ian asked, "What happened here?"

"Nothing." He stalked out of the cafeteria, snapping at anyone in his path. The students quickly resumed their normal routine of chatter and laughter, the fight practically old news now. It didn't seem to abnormal here at Tower Prep, as fights between opposing Buffer teams often started. But Ian knew that this one was completely different. He saw Don and Zack trying to sneak away.

"Guys!" he called. The boys stopped and waited for him to catch up, appearing quite peeved. "Can you tell me what happened?" At their wary looks, he pleaded, "Please? I know something's up with Ray."

Zack sighed. "A fight, Archer. Obviously they fought."

"But about what?"

"You," Don said. "Well, Ray was fighting for you, at least. He…he knows you've been distracted recently. Because of Cal. So he tried to tell Cal to leave you alone."

"Well, he didn't use those exact words," Zack added. "He basically told Cal that he wasn't worth your time, that he wasn't enough of a challenge. And then he said that he'd beat Cal just to prove it. He was trying to show Cal that if he could beat him, then Cal had no shot at taking you down."

Ian pursed his lips. "I have to go talk to him now." He started to move past them, but Don grabbed his arm.

"You do realize that you're the main cause of this," he said quietly. "You're the reason Ray's like this right now. It's your fault. You let yourself get so occupied with Rice that Ray thinks you don't need him anymore."

Ian's eyes softened. "I know."

-.-

"Ray!"

He blocked out the voice, the voice he had become so accustomed to hearing, to arguing with, to shouting at, even laughing with sometimes. He blocked it out because he didn't really have the person's attention anymore. He was like the afterthought.

A strong hand spun him around and he took an angry swipe at Archer, teeth clenched. "Get away from me!"

Ian fought back, trying to make the boy look him in the eye. "I can't do anything to help you if you won't let me!"

"I don't need your help! I don't need you!" Ray ducked down and tackled him, sending them both to the floor. He pinned Ian down and snarled at him. "You don't need me either."

"Ray," Ian hissed, "what the hell is wrong? Why'd you tell Cal those things? Why did you start a fight with him? What are you trying to prove?"

The raven-haired boy paled. He'd have to kill Don and Zack when this was all over. Couldn't they keep their mouths shut? Cautiously, Ian reached up and pushed Ray off of him. He sat up and they stayed there on the gym floor, silent, looking at anything in the room other than at each other.

He finally spoke. "You come into these sparring matches with your mind on other things. You're not thinking of fighting me. You're thinking of Rice. Of how you can beat him, shame him, sometimes make peace with him. You're thinking of him and not me."

Ian cast him a sideways glance. "Ray, I'm sorry."

"But I don't get it!" Snider growled, glaring at him. "Is it because he's a better fighter than me? Because I can tell you he's not. If you hadn't interfered, I'd have beaten him."

"Ray, are you jealous?"

That shut him up. And then he snapped, "What, you think I'm a little girl? Sure, let's call it that then. I'm jealous. But I'm angry too, Archer. Angry that _he's_ the one distracting you. We said we'd distract each other, and now I'm being replaced by some idiot Buffer player."

"But you're not," Ian almost laughed.

"But it still seems like it!" Ray slammed his fist on the floor and Ian flinched. "You just don't get it! Don't get this! What we have." His voice dropped. "What we had. You don't get this…"

"Relationship?"

"Don't make me gag," Ray hissed, a bit flustered. "You make it sound like we're dating. Isn't there a different word to use?"

"Is this a friendship?"

"No, I think I still hate you, especially after this." Ray snorted and looked at the floor. "I don't like this. Just go away."

He was fervently praying that Ian would get up and leave quietly. If the boy stayed and tried to talk with him, he just might have to force him to go.

Had Ian's hands always been so soft? Ray realized with a jolt that he was touching him. He looked down and all but choked as he saw the other boy's hand clutching his. Deep brown eyes flashed to Ray's, apologetic, pleading.

"What?" Snider muttered, fingers twitching. He didn't try to pull away.

"Saying sorry won't be enough for this," Archer whispered. He reached for Ray, but the boy leaned back. "What? I'm trying to apologize here."

"Don't go all mushy on me now, Archer," Ray replied, wondering all the while, _Why the hell me?_ "All you have to do is walk away."

"I don't want to walk away." Archer's voice deepened, grew unnervingly steady.

Ray recognized it. Ian would only do this when Ray wasn't fighting him seriously. When Ian wanted to focus. When he wanted to get something done. Ray leaned back a little further. Ian reached for him. "Stop it," Ray snapped irritably. "Quit being all…girly." As soon as he said that, he wondered why the hell he was still living. That was _not_ what he meant to say.

And, he realized with a shiver, Ian was _not_ supposed to be looking at him that way.

The other's face darkened. "So you don't want me to go soft? Is that it?"

Ray found himself pinned to the floor, Ian hovering over him dangerously. "How about you just try to get _this_," the boy breathed.

It was just a light brush, but Ray felt sparks go through his body when the other's lips touched his. And then the sparks turned to flames when he threaded his fingers through the other's golden hair and all but dragged him down to meet him fully.

"Oh, _God_."

And that's all it took to make Ray come to his senses and shove Archer off with a gasp. "_What the hell?_"

Ian grinned somewhat impishly and gripped Ray's hands. "So you do get this." It wasn't a question.

"Get what?" Ray felt like laughing because of what he just did, yet he scowled.

"This," Ian said softly. "Get this. What we have. A relationship." Ray opened his mouth but Ian interrupted him. "_Yes_, Ray Snider. I am officially calling this a relationship, whether you hate me or not."

Ray wondered whether he should kiss this boy back because he thought he was wonderful, or deck him because he was absolutely infuriating. Instead, he sighed and closed his eyes, reluctantly relaxing when Ian pressed his forehead to his. "So this is what you want? What about Cal?"

Ian chuckled. "Ray, if you're so worried about me becoming distracted with someone else, then just date me."

"Archer, this is no joke."

"You think I'm joking?"

Ray opened his eyes and took a good look at Ian. He finally saw the nervousness in his brown orbs, noticed the hesitation in his voice, recognized the pleading look scrawled across his face. Ray did the only reassuring thing he could think of. He smiled.

He could have sworn that Ian's returning grin nearly blinded him. "So you _do_ get this?" This time, it was a question.

Ray rolled his eyes and cautiously leaned forward, pressing a kiss to the other's neck, inhaling the scent that could only belong to him. "Yes, I do. This is one of the few things I get."

_Then_ he decked him.

Ian skidded across the floor, clutching his cheek, eyes wide with surprise and confusion. "What gives?" he cried, springing up. "I thought you said—"

"I said I get this," Ray hummed casually, circling Ian. "I never said I would date you. I never said that _I_ would call this a relationship. I never said you could _kiss_ me." His eyes narrowed. "As a matter of fact, I'm still angry at you."

Ray decided that while he was trying to grow used to this new…relationship, he'd let Archer suffer a bit. Just a bit.

"What do you want me to do then?" Ian asked, edging back from Ray in case he tried to hit him again.

"I've decided that you're going to have to work to earn my good graces," Snider said haughtily. "I'm not letting you kiss me anymore either." He ignored Ian's outraged squawk. "You don't deserve it, really." He slowly slid into a fighting stance. "Well? Come on. Show me that you deserve my affection." He grimaced at the feminine word, but he certainly wasn't going to say _love_. Well…not yet.

A shiver went up his spine as he saw Ian's eyelids droop seductively. Even as the boy spoke, an inexplicable feeling rippled through his body. "I hope you realize," Archer drawled, "that while you think you're being clever, I won't let you be dominant." He too went into a stance. "And just because I like you doesn't mean I'll be going easy on you now."

Ray was slightly disturbed when he thought that this menacing side of Ian was rather…sexy. _Dammit, I think I'm losing my own battle._ "Whatever, Archer. Just so long as you get this."

The other chuckled. "Don't worry, Snider. I get this. Believe me."

Ray suddenly realized what that feeling he had was. Anticipation. He couldn't wait for what was to come.

They both grinned, and as if a silent bell rang, they sprang at each other.


End file.
